Modernism in "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock"

Summary: In T.S. Eliot's "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock," the many expressions of doubt, insecurity and fear show Eliot to be a Modernist. This can be defined as a rejectiopn of accepted societal structures.

"Modernism in all its artistic forms expressed the conviction that the previously accepted structure of society--social, political, religious, artistic--were invalid...Modernists wished to expose what they saw as the falsity of conventional thinking and show truth to the subjective and arbitrary"(Dr. Brent). Throughout T.S, Eliot's poem, "The love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock," there are many expressions of doubt, insecurity, and fear from the speaker through the many questions he proposes throughout the poem. The speaker, Prufrock, asks questions that may seem simple to answer, but instead are far more difficult for the speaker to answer. For example the speaker asks, "Do I dare eat a peach"" or "Shall I part my hair behind"" On the other hand, the speaker presents larger, more philosophical questions of life such as, "And how should I begin"" or "So how should I presume"" What is the significance of the...